Million Dollar Baby
by Myriad-13
Summary: One-Shot Complete: "I don't want to watch a film about a baby." Jesse rolled his eyes. "The film isn't about a baby," he replied. How did Beca understand the Hilary Swank reference outside the police station the night of the Regionals? The answer: Jesse made her watch it, and she actually enjoyed and was affected by it.


**A/N**: In the Pitch Perfect film, outside the jail, I just realised something. Beca KNEW who Hilary Swank from Million Dollar Baby was. The self confessed movie hater knew that. So, it means that Beca and Jesse, at some point before the regionals, watched the movie. Beca, being who she is, would have had a really strong reaction. And I feel that this is how she would have felt about it.

**Added note:** In the movie, Mo Chuisle is spelt Mo Cuishle, but apparently the movie spelling was a mistake. Further, in the movie they pronounced it as 'Mo Cush-la' if you're wondering how it's pronounced.

**Rating: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for Million Dollar Baby (massive spoilers), some coarse language**

**Characters: Beca & Jesse**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect or Million Dollar Baby. They're just my plot devices. **

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**Million Dollar Baby**

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"I don't want to watch a film about a baby," sniffed Beca at hearing the movie title for their fourth movication night.

Jesse rolled his eyes. "The film isn't about a baby."

"Number one, you copied my move of rolling my eyes. Number two, that's what it sounds like. It sounds like a movie about a rich baby. Or a baby worth a million dollars," argued Beca, grabbing the bowl of popcorn and huffily plunking herself on Jesse's bed, tucking herself in the corner with the fluffiest pillows. If she had to be put through this torture, she was going to have the most comfortable spot and that was final in her opinion, no matter how many times Jesse complained he would slip off the bed (although he never did).

"It's actually about boxing. Not like Rocky. It's more…thematically challenging. It won an Oscar!" bubbled Jesse, about to go on about interesting trivia when Beca asked, "How can you win a person named Oscar? You movie people are weird."

Jesse snapped his neck around, almost pulling a muscle with the speed, and gasped in mock horror, waggling a finger in Beca's face. "It amazes me how you know nothing. Well, my padawan, an Oscar is the nickname of an Academy Award – it's one of the most prestigious prizes for a movie to get," he explained.

"It means nothing, so I don't care. Come on, just put it on, get started so I can have my nap," Beca urged.

"I promise you that you'll be too fascinated to even think about sleeping."

"That's what you said about Rocky," Beca pointed out with a smirk.

"Rocky's different. This is a whole new ball game," Jesse promised with a wink, grabbing his laptop and settling down next to her. As he selected the movie to play, he reached for the popcorn, only for it to be pulled away. He stared at her, raising an eyebrow to match the expression aimed at him. "You're a popcorn hog," Jesse accused.

Beca shrugged. "I deserve it."

Huffing a sarcastic laugh, Jesse lunged, grabbing a handful of the popcorn as Morgan Freeman's voice poured out of the laptop speakers. The opening scenes played crisp and clear, and Jesse began his usual commentary – complete with Beca glaring at him in an effort to shut him up. He didn't quit, drawing Beca's attention to the score and the way it was such a character in itself in the movie, the way it wasn't the star, but more of the perfect accompaniment to the scenes.

Jesse was just telling Beca about Clint Eastwood's other movies at the scene where his character Frankie agreed to train Maggie, when Beca snapped testily, "Nerd, can you shut up? I'm trying to hear what they're saying."

Ordinarily, it would have stung a little bit. But Jesse realised something. Beca was actually interested in the film. Honest to goodness wanting to listen to the dialogue.

He was ecstatic. He just closed his mouth, sat back, and watched the movie, flicking his gaze to Beca every now and then, marvelling at the attention she was paying to the laptop screen.

"That was a dick move of him," Beca commented at the scene where Frankie handed Maggie off to a manager for her first fight.

Jesse nodded. "Yep."

They watched Maggie's first fight in silence, and Jesse could see Beca wince under her breath when Maggie got hit, prompting Frank to come down from his viewpoint and pronounce himself as her trainer. "About time," Beca muttered under her breath.

As the montage of Maggie's different fights played, with her boxing prowess knocking out her opponents in the first round, Jesse almost missed Beca breathe, "You get 'em girl." It was so soft, Jesse thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but then he noticed Beca's relaxed pose, her eyes glowing in the light from the screen with a little smile on her face. She must have said it. Jesse felt his heart pound at the knowledge that for the first time in her life, Beca wasn't finding a movie boring. He found himself oddly honoured that he was the one to give her that.

When Maggie wore the Mo Chuisle robe for the first time, Beca turned to Jesse and asked, "What does it mean?"

He shook his head. "I can't tell you."

She frowned. "Why the hell not?"

"It's a really big part of the plot. You'll find out at the end of the movie," promised Jesse.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay then."

During the part where Frankie was talking to 'The Blue Bear's' manager, Beca mentioned quietly, "That Scrap dude, played by that Morgan guy…why didn't they put him in the fight scenes with Maggie and Frankie? He's pretty smart and witty. I like him."

Instead of joking that Beca had formed an attachment with the movie (not wanting to get her defences up), Jesse just answered the question. "They did it to draw attention to the whole father daughter dynamic that Maggie and Frankie are building up."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," conceded Beca.

When Maggie showed her mother and sister the house she had bought for them and their reactions had been less than grateful, Beca had muttered, "Wow. Nice family she's got. I can't believe she didn't go off at them in return. Hell, her family makes mine look awesome."

"Yeah, totally," agreed Jesse.

No further comments were made until the part where Scrap stopped the no-hoper Danger from being pummelled further by Shawrelle, and showed that an old dog could do new tricks and knocked Shawrelle out. Beca and Jesse had both grinned at each other and he asked, "Wasn't that awesome?"

"I knew I liked that old dude," Beca replied.

When the title fight between Maggie and The Blue Bear neared, Beca seemed to deflate a little. "Well, we know where this is going. It's going to be this long, drawn out sequence with heaps of encouragement, she's going to win, and it's going to be happily ever after," she said blandly.

Jesse didn't say anything, choosing to let the movie prove Beca's prediction wrong.

The moment that Maggie turned away from Billie, and her opponent, enraged, punched her, Beca sat up in sudden interest. And when Maggie's neck hit the stool, Beca's gasp filled the silence. "Oh, my, God," she whispered, eyes wide. She turned to Jesse, rapidly questioning, "Is she dead? Isn't that illegal? That's not fair."

"She's not dead. Just watch," Jesse prodded her gently, nodding towards the screen.

"Okay."

Beca lapsed into silence once more, staring at the screen with such an intensity it was ferocious. Jesse was too focused on her to really watch the movie. He had seen it, he knew what was coming next. He was more interested in Beca's reactions – he knew the first time he had seen it, he had gotten a little emotional.

The time following the accident on screen, with Maggie in hospital and Frankie's never ending commitment to making sure that she was well cared for through her bedsores, amputated leg and difficulty breathing, was taken in and absorbed by both young adults. At some point, Beca had rested her head against Jesse's shoulder as she watched. When Maggie's family and their lawyer stormed into the hospital, Jesse could practically feel Beca's growl vibrate through him.

"Those assholes," she ground out.

"Just watch. Frankie doesn't stop them, but Maggie's capable even as a quadriplegic," Jesse said soothingly.

When Maggie laid the smack down in superb verbal fashion, telling her family to never come back, Beca snickered. "Ha, nice work."

"I know, and the line Clint Eastwood says after? That's just the cherry on top of the scene," Jesse added.

The film took a realistic, darker turn when Maggie voiced her wish. "_I want you to do…what my daddy did for Axel."_

Jesse darted a glance to Beca, and found her frowning, her mouth parted as if to say 'I can't believe this.' And he understood. It was a sad turn of circumstances, where Maggie wanted to go out remembering her glory, instead of wasting away until her body just gave up. Beca was still silent, just watching as Frankie went through the agony of deciding to keep Maggie alive for his sake of seeing her alive, or to grant her wish. The depth of human emotion was so raw, so well acted with the gravity such moments needed, that even Beca was affected.

Then Frankie made his decision and went to the hospital for the last time, having made the decision to free Maggie from her mortal prison.

" _Mo Chuisle...it means 'My darling, my blood.'"_

Jesse heard a soft, tortured intake of breath beside him, and quickly peered at Beca's expression before she could notice. To his surprise, her eyes shone bright with wetness – she was holding back tears. He was too – this part got to him every time, the agony the character displayed at having to lose the one who had become closer than his own daughter was heart wrenching.

As the movie petered out, Beca turned to him, her eyes no longer suspiciously bright, and murmured, "Congratulations. I didn't fall asleep."

"It's hard to. It's very thought provoking," Jesse replied, equally as quiet.

Beca looked down at her hands, resting in her lap. She was stunned by the ending, the dedication that the Frankie character – through all of his surliness – has displayed in wanting to keep Maggie alive. It touched something in her heart. "I've never seen such devotion as what those characters did. And, I'm even surprised that, you know, I felt it. I've never felt anything from a movie before. It was different," she admitted. She was comfortable admitting this to Jesse for reasons she didn't understand, but Beca knew that she would have never told anyone else.

"Because it felt really authentic."

"Don't forget, she kicked ass too," Beca added, as if it was her whole reason for liking the film.

"Yeah. I can see you landing a hit like that on someone," Jesse said, smiling at her.

Beca rolled her eyes. "It might even be you," she replied. She shuffled off the bed, climbing over Jesse's legs and saying, "Well, that was enlightening. I probably should go now."

Jesse's face fell. He wanted her to stay so they could keep talking about the movie, seeing as it was the only one she had liked so far. He was searching for an excuse when he noticed the time. "It's past midnight. You shouldn't be walking back to your dorm alone," he protested softly.

"I'm a grown girl, Jesse. I can manage. I might even take some tips from Maggie," Beca answered with a smirk.

"I'll walk you?" he offered.

"Gentlemanly, but no. Then you'd have to walk back here on your own, and no offence, but you're more likely to get picked on than me," she said teasingly.

"Oh, now that hurts. Well, I don't think you should go back. Why don't you stay?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. "I mean, Benji is at a Star Wars convention, so you can use his bed." All the while, Jesse was cursing himself for digging himself a deeper hole. He'd thought that the Breakfast Club debacle had taught him something.

"Yeah, safe from everything but a nerd," Beca snorted. "I'd wake up to find you wrote something stupid like 'I love movies' on my arm." She continued to barb and tease him, trying to forget how that movie had made her feel, and how Jesse had clouded her senses in the moments she hadn't been paying attention to the film.

Jesse held his hand to his heart and pledged, "I promise, I won't even go near you. You probably have girl cooties."

Beca chuckled, "Dork."

"So are you going to stay?"

"Only because you'll pout like a freaking puppy and bug me about it if I won't," she finally said, thinking it over. "And be warned. I've got pepper spray in my pocket if you try anything, friend or not."

Jesse just grinned. "Okay, I'll be on my best behaviour."

As Beca went over to Benji's bed, she stopped still when she noticed a lump in the covers, moving about. "Uh, Jesse, there's something in his bed…"

"Oh, that's just his mice."

Beca whirled around, glaring at him. "_Just_ his mice? You expect me to sleep with rodents?"

"They're fine. They're very well trained," Jesse tried to argue persuasively.

Beca tapped her foot, looking between Jesse and Benji's bed. She finally huffed, turning to Jesse as she threw off her jumper, leaving her in her shirt and jeans. "Move over," she demanded.

Jesse's grin disappeared. "Huh?"

"I said move over," Beca repeated, more forcefully, shoving at his shoulder. "I'm not sleeping with rodents, and you're marginally better. Besides, we're friends. It's not awkward for friends to share a bed, right?"

Jesse's brain was stuck on the fact that Beca was willing to share his single bed. He was going to have her pressed up against his side… "Uh, sure, not awkward at all," he muttered, putting his laptop on the bookshelf behind him, and scooting over, watching in fascination as the whirlwind force known as Beca wormed her way under his covers, lying so their arms just touched. He settled, glad he was wearing trackpants and a shirt anyway so he'd be comfortable. "Um…"

"Just turn off the light, weirdo, and get to sleep. If you think this is weird now, wait until the morning," Beca said sarcastically.

"Okay, okay," he said, leaning over and flicking the switch, settling again and staring at the ceiling, trying to get his tense body to relax.

After a few minutes in the dark, he heard Beca's breathing even out, and felt her loosen up. He chuckled at the fact that she could seemingly fall asleep easily, anywhere – even around him. He knew he would up for a little while more, listening to her soft sighs, taking in her scent, and the warmth that her tiny body gave off.

He whispered into the dark, "Good night, Mo Chuisle."

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**A/N: *peeks out from behind laptop* Was that any good? I hope it was – I feel like something else happened between the Breakfast Club Scene and the Regionals for Beca and Jesse to be as friendly towards each other that day (before it all went to crap), and this could have been it. The ending scene was inspired by another fanfic I read, where Beca had to sleep in Jesse's bed with him when she found mice in Benji's.**

**Reviews are always wonderful and appreciated. **


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